Ranching

Manuscript length: 2,000 to 3,000 words. Text should offer a thorough profile of a working ranch with a unique story to tell. Include information on the ranch’s founding and history, the family or families involved, ranch operations and, most importantly, the ranch’s use of horses. Thoroughly discuss the ranch’s bloodline preferences for horses, what the ranch looks for in working horses, the ranch’s horse-breeding program, and how horses are selected, started, trained and used.

Trail Riding

Manuscript length: 2,000 to 2,500 words. Text should offer a travelogue detailing a horseback excursion into stunning country that readers would likely never have the opportunity to explore on their own. Alternately, the text can be written as a destination or travel piece, explaining unique riding opportunities in a specific locale.

Great Horses

Manuscript length: 2,000 to 2,500 words. Text should profile a contemporary or historic western horse with a compelling story. An accompanying sidebar should briefly discuss the horse’s breed, with information on history and development of the breed, recognizable physical traits, uses, related associations, competitions, benefits of owning a horse of this breed, and the breed’s use in western events or on working ranches.

Manuscript length: 2,000 to 2,500 words. Historical features can range from profiles of Old West characters to overviews of historic events to thorough examinations of specific aspects of frontier history. In all cases, though, the topic should have a strong tie to horses and the American West.

Rodeo

Manuscript length: 2,000 to 2,500 words. Rodeo features can take several forms, including profiles of the current season’s top athletes from the high-school, college and professional circuits; nostalgic pieces profiling competitors from the past; or essays on the sport. Because of the magazine’s lead-time, result-oriented event coverage does not fit Western Horseman’s format.

Personalities

Manuscript length: 1,500 to 2,000 words. Text should thoroughly discuss a specific horse breed, and its role in the western industry. Coverage should include: history and development of the breed, physical traits, uses, associations, competitions, benefits of ownership, and the breed’s use in western events or on working ranches.

Manuscript length: 1,500 to 2,500 words. Essays can take the form of memoirs, humor pieces, book excerpts or other literary efforts. All essays must relate to western horses and the surrounding cowboy culture.